Potato feeder



A Cl

Patented Mar. 29, 1927.

BAIBR'IDGE 15. STEAND. oF DEL Nonnen,` COLORD'O.

iuifiio FEEDER.

This invention relates to potato" planters and" has special referendo to the hopperA and .z'ne'ans lor transferring lthe potatoes singly iroin the'hopper toa delivery spout or Chute through which they pass to the ground. The invention' has for its .object the provision ot' a' simple and eiiiient mechanism which may be operatedl by thertra'vel of tile planter along the contemplated row to translfer the potatoes one at .a time troni the hopper to the eliute or delivery spout and which will he autolnatieally actuated? to take up a potato and to releasetlie salne as it is brought into a position at the' top of the delivery spoutl I A further object of the 'invention` is to provide niechan'isni eoinprising a plurality of travelingelanipsor oups which will be autoinatioally opened: asytliely aproaeh the' bottom of the hopper toengage a potato and then Closed upon the potato to hold ity and earry it to a point at' the top ot' the vdischarge chute at which point it will be automatically released. Other inoidental objects of the inventionjwillvappear in the Course of the following description.

In the drawing:

Figure l isa sie elevatioiiwith oneside Wall vof th'ekhopper reinovedym u u Fig. 2 'is a rear end elevation' with the disL charge spout reinoved; l

Fig. 3 is an enlarged elevation of one'of the` rotating" arnlsfwh'ioh eariy the potato holding oups or olain'ps'; n l

Fig. 4is`a detail section on thelne 4 4 O'fFgl; u .r

Fig. 5 isV anenlarged'perspeotive vie'vvr o'fy a portion ofthe' rear end'of thev hopper.

Figuren()l is' an enlarged'detail seetional View on the line 6%-6 of Figure l`looli'ing in thedireetion of the'a'rrovvs.

lIn the drawing, have' illustrated only the hopper and'y the parts niountedf" therein which constitute Iny o present f izr'ivent'ion, `but it is to be' understood thattlre hopperis tope secured upon a frain'e oi anyapproved lcon.-y struction, Which l' frame l may ,befrvvheelsupl ported sol'thatitni'ay be easily drawn along the row where the potatoesl are to be planted, and the ineioh'ani'sniof the invention 'may `be driven from one of the ,Wheelshor otherwise actuated toeffe'etthe delivery oftlie potatoes to the ground. y e f n In Carrying out'the invention, I employ a hopper consisting of side Walls l having straight top and rear edges, as shown clearly in Fig. l, and having its lower and front edges merged/upon afaife, as also yshovifnin Fig'. A1. i Thetop" of theiopiper is open while a` bottoni 2 is secured tothelo'wer andpi'ront edges of the side w'alls and hack` plates 3 are secured lto the side wvfalls at the rear Vedges of the saine'. Ili'edbaek plates eitend invvai'dlv f ioni'the side Walls oiI platQesl of the hopperA butE arespaoed apart a'tftheir linner edges to provideA for the passage of' the potatoearrying` andi aV partition is disvposed betweerif the inner Aedges ofthe said haelt*` plates' in"v spaee'd relation"y thereto so' that the hopper Y may r a'eeoniniodate tvvo Sets of` arms, one on eaeh side lof the partition.' 1 Thelvyer' yefclg'ieof the partition y merges fin fo' troughs 5 which' y extend lon'gitudina'lly'` overl' the b ttbm oi thev hoppei andaieadapted to "guide the potat( i-engagiing oups or olanipsfaiidalso:furnish ineails whereby' the potatoes Will he naturally 1disV posed'in the parjtsottheoups.y I False hottoins 6 are' providedfabove Lthe hottoinZiand extendfrorn thi-iside plates to the upperedges of the 'trouglisgisjshown most eiearlyjirn Eig-i. 5,I beingprovided at intervals With openings 7I thioiighwhili the potatoes may pass.' As shown', most' clearly' ,njFigL l, ithe,pfntitiofn proj eet's, forivaidly vvithinfthe hopper a Suffie cient distane to ,provi'le' anintermfedialte hearing for :a'nsh'ai'tS :carries the` po,-y tato-dro p'ingprins I), thefgendy portionsoi tle' saidsha'ft being rotat'ahly inoun'tedin theyside plates. ot' theJJ liop'pe'r and either of; bothg ends being equipped with' any desiredy Inean's forimpartingv rotationA tofthe shaft.l sli'ovvnin F ig. I lthe arlgnsL `94 are disposed radiallyI of Ithefsliai't'l and ar'- ranged in tvvxose'tsy rseiies,`1one setbeing disposed'ateaeh side of paititioin The arms ate ofjsuel length l'tliatitheir'outer ends In'ayI travel inthefrespective A,trnighfs ,5,- and to'uth'e outerv` extreinityeachl arinlisL seicu`iedfa`- stationary jal'vvofry cup, ineinloeri 1Q, said Lj aw or oiip lneinher' proj'eoting'forvvardl fro1n,the arm in the direotion ofrotation. Iivotally4 mountedl upon eae'h'l arnimg, im# lnediately adjacent the outer iendftheifeof, is a. trip rofl` @if lla'vetll and. ferme 'integral withV oi" rigidlyI seeurel 'to' the ypivoted ,end ofthe' Seifii tfiP hier iislakins :las Off. cup nielnloer 1 2,azolaptedr .tooooperate vtvithlthey Cup.nieinloei' ovr'hjafvvglO tolhold a; potatozauid deposit it'in the disohaige chute or spout 13 which is secured upon the rear end of the hopper and may be of any approved forni, the chute depending to -a point adj aoent the ground, as will be understood. Extending between and secured to each trip lever 11 and the arm 9 upon which said lever is mounted is a tension spring llt which holds the inner free end of the lever to the arm, and the arm is otl'set, as shown at 15, to clear a stud or trip pin 16 and a similar stud or trip pin 17 upon the partition so that the rotation of the arm will bring the free inner end of the lever against the said trip pins successively to actuate the rocking aw or cup member 12. fl't will also be noted that the free end of the lever is curved so that a convex surface is presented to the studs 1G and 17 and the engagementof the studs by the lever made easy and the operation ofthe device certain.

ln use, the hopper is filled with potatoes or the potatoes may be fed into the hopper as the machine travels over the field through any approved mechanism. During the travel of the machine, the shaft 8 will be rotated so that the several arms will partake of the rotation and the potato-engaging clamps will be caused to travel through the troughs 5 and across the top of the hopper to the delivery spout or chute 13. As an arm 9 passes the lower trip stud 17, the trip lever 11 on that arm will be brought against the said stud so that the lever will be rocked and the jaw 12 thereon will be moved away from the jaw 10 on the arm. rllhe jaws while thus separated will enter the respective troughs 5 into which the potatoes have gravitated and will be thereupon brought into position at opposite sides of a potato. As the travel of the arm continues, the lever will clear the trip pin or stud and the tension spring connected with the lever will at once swing the rocking jaw toward the relatively fixed jaw to hold a potato between the jaws. The arm then moves forwardly and upwardly through the hopper and eventually will travel rearwardly at the top of the hopper to a point adjacent the top of the discharge chute 13. Just as the clamp reaches the top of the chute, the trip lever will be brought into engagement with the trip stud 16 and will be thereby retarded, relative to the arm 9, so that it will be rocked and the movable jaw will be swung away from the relatively fixed jaw to release the potato which will then, of course, drop through the chute to the ground. Then the lever clears the trip pin 16, the clamp will resume its initial closed position but almost immediately the trip stud. 17 will be engaged to again open the jaws so that they may again engage a potato.

From the foregong description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it will be seen that I have provided a very compact and efficient mechanism whereby potatoes will be taken up singly and deliv- Lacasse ered into the discharge spout so that they will be setin the ground at regular intervals. Any number of rotating arms may be employed, and while l have shown them as disposed in two sets one at each side of an intermediate partition, they may be disposed in one set and the hopper made narrower so that the intermediate partition will be unnecessary and the trip pins may be set in one side wall of the hopper.

A retarding member 18 is associated with each of the hoppers to temporarily hold the pieces of potato in the path of the pickers to insure the latter taking up a potato and prevents the piclrei; from pushing the potato ahead ywithout picking one. The retarding member consists of an arm 18 which is pivoted at one end to a side of the hopper or other convenient point, as indicated at 19. ri`he arm is broad to prevent the potatoes from lodging` in the rear thereof when at the limit of its inward movement. A spring 20 coacts vith the arm to normally hold it at the limit of its inward movement. The swinging end of the arm 18 is moved outward against the tension of the spring 2() by the pickers as their gripping ends sweep through the hopper and pass the inner end of the arm.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. in a potato planter, the combination of a hopper, arms provided to travel through the hopper and having an offset, fixed and pivoted jaws at the ends of the arms, the pivoted jaws having levers extending across the spaces of the arms provided by the offset portions thereof, and trips disposed in the path of the levers and the said spaces of the arms.

2. A potato planter comprising a hopper of approximately circular outline including straight sides and an outwardly curved bottom, a partition midway between the sides of the hopper, circular' troughs at opposite sides of the partition in Contact with and supported by the said curved bottom, false bottoms between the open sides of the troughs and the sides of the hopper inclining outwardly and upwardly, back plates extending inwardly from the sides of the hopper and terminating short of the parti tion, a chute in the rear of the back plates, a sha-ft mounted in the sides of the hopper, arms radiating from the shaft and disposed upon opposite sides of the partition, fixed and pivoted jaws on the outer ends of the arms and means for operating the pivoted jaws.

In testimony whereof I affix my si gnature.

BANBRIDGE P. SUTHERLAND. [1.. s.]

Htl 

